From the records of the Freedmen’s Bank, New Bern branch:

Clara Best, born about 1813 near Stantonsburg, reported that she was reared in Greene County. Her husband Daniel Best had died the “1st spring Yankees come.” She named twelve children (plus “2 not named”) — Cynthia, William, Philip, Nancy, Ivory, Jinnie and Clara, living, and Ransom and Toney (“d. soldier”), deceased. Her father Isaac Best was dead, as was brother Nathan, but mother Sylvia seems to have been living yet, as were siblings Isaac, Rose Ann, Patience, Isaiah and David.